Have a look at this video, it is a bit long and the camera work sucks, but it is very informative.

These guys did everything wrong. I mean everything! They were extremely lucky that nobody was injured and that there was no serious damage to vehicles. From winching with a bunch of people standing around the winch, to joining straps with a shackle, joining two different kinds of straps, to snatching on a tow ball.

The winch cable broke, the tow strap broke and the tow ball was pulled out of whack, and they got away with it every time. BUT their luck cant hold forever. Please take note and DONT ever do recoveries like this. This is dangerous work, and can cause serious injuries.